Hong Kong Racing Tips: Alliances has a Super chance March 30, 2021 SHA TIN hosts the mid-week action in Hong Kong on Wednesday, with a competitive nine-race card under floodlights on the all-weather surface. Local bettors are always wary when the action takes place on dirt, and it’s easy to see why. With the temperature around 30 degrees, the humidity high and the chance of showers, it’s anybody’s guess how the [...]
Exclusive: London set to host at least two NFL games from 2022 onwards March 30, 2021 NFL chiefs are set to approve plans guaranteeing London hosts at least two regular season games from the 2022 season onwards. According to internal documents seen by City A.M., NFL team owners will vote on proposals to host four international games a year – two in London, one in either Berlin or Munich and one [...]
English football clubs turn to MetLife for £117.5m loan after baulking at Bank of England emergency funding conditions March 30, 2021 Championship football clubs have chosen to take a £117.5m loan from US insurer MetLife instead of the Bank of England’s emergency Covid-19 support scheme. The English Football League (EFL), which represents clubs in the second, third and fourth divisions, said it rejected the Bank of England loan due to the conditions imposed. Teams in the [...]
What is the ‘Swiss model’ set to be used in the Champions League, and why have big clubs chosen a system common to chess but unheard of in football? March 30, 2021 The biggest changes to the Champions League for 20 years – including the introduction of the controversial “Swiss model” – are set to be rubber-stamped in April. From 2024, it will mean more teams, more matches and a new format common to chess and croquet that, until now, was unheard of in elite European football. [...]
Players vow to scupper Silver Lake £235m bid for All Blacks commercial rights March 29, 2021 Several leading All Blacks and Black Ferns say they will veto Silver Lake’s bid for a stake in New Zealand Rugby (NZR). The US-based private equity giant has offered £235m for 15 per cent of NZR’s commercial rights, which the deal values at £1.5bn. If successful, it would be the latest investment by private equity [...]
Mason Mount continues emergence as key man in Gareth Southgate’s England Euro 2020 project March 29, 2021 When Mason Mount collected Harry Kane’s pass and clipped the ball over Albania goalkeeper Etrit Berisha on Sunday it was job done. Another three points for England to continue their flawless start to the qualifying campaign for the Qatar 2022 World Cup. And another exhibit in the burgeoning cache of evidence that Mount deserves a [...]
EP: 49 Doncaster, Newbury, Hong Kong & Dubai March 26, 2021 Trainer Richard Hughes joins us as our guest today as we look forward to the start of the new flat racing season at Doncaster where the Lincoln Handicap, run over the straight mile, is the feature race City A.M. racing editor Bill Esdaile previews this weekend’s global action in the UK and the Dubai World [...]
A drive to survive: How Liberty Media used Netflix and esports to win a new generation of fans and safeguard the future of Formula 1 March 26, 2021 It feels like an awful long time ago now that Liberty Media took the wheel of Formula 1, completing a takeover valued at $8bn including debt in January 2017. Donald Trump had just been inaugurated and the most relevant global health emergency was the Zika virus. In motorsport, meanwhile, Lewis Hamilton had been dethroned and [...]
Ollie Phillips: England need change but that doesn’t mean sacking Eddie Jones; France to wreak havoc on Scotland; and Lions pecking order March 25, 2021 In the space of a few days England went from brilliant, devastating and clinical against France to devoid of ideas against Ireland. Credit to Ireland for well and truly doing a job on England last weekend. They didn’t just beat Eddie Jones’s side, they thrashed them 32-18. This is a team that talks about wanting [...]
Week in Sportbiz: Is crypto the next big player in sports sponsorship? Plus Extreme E’s Suez near miss and Amazon’s Six Nations interest March 25, 2021 Where US sports lead, others tend to follow, so it was with interest that industry insiders noted developments in Florida this week. Miami Heat’s home is set to be rebranded the FTX Arena after the NBA side struck a naming rights agreement with the cryptocurrency exchange. FTX will pay $135m for the 19-year deal, the [...]